Matt LeBlanc (not the actor) lines up his toiletries in the order in which he uses them. I’d say he takes “doing more with less” a little to the extreme, but that’s his job as an efficiency expert.

The whole point of upgrading to Office 2007 is to utilize new or improved features.

LeBlanc was the subject of a piece last week on NPR’s Planet Money program, and his profession is a particularly timely subject in the current economic climate where “more with less” is the mantra and efficiency and productivity are the only goals. (Listen to reporter David Kestenbaum’s interview with LeBlanc.)

LeBlanc works for a global shipping company, and his role is to find ways to streamline processes. He is sent to different locations and told, for example, to save the company $500,000.

As he explained in his interview with NPR’s David Kestenbaum: When he tells people that he can save thousands of labor hours just by moving a printer, they don’t believe him.

This company, PC Helps Support, is also in the efficiency business. (We’re a desktop application and mobile device support provider.) But instead of demonstrating how moving a printer can save money, we show how eliminating shadow support and increasing productivity can influence their bottom line. Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program, Worker Productivity David Kestenbaum, efficiency, hidden demand, Matt LeBlanc, NPR, shadow support

Last week, MSNBC featured a story with this headline: “Lack of computer skills foils many job-seekers.” The article highlighted how many of those included in the recent record-high unemployment stats don’t have adequate enough skills to file for their unemployment benefits online, let alone compete in a fierce market for jobs.

Even those with jobs have problems with tasks they are expected to perform daily.

But it’s not just the jobless who are struggling with rudimentary computer skills. Even those with jobs have problems with tasks they are expected to perform daily.

For example, if an employee cannot get the page numbering to work in the departmental report he is working on, where will he go for help? He probably will not call the IT help desk; that’s just for when computers are on fire or when networks are down (that, he’s learned from experience). Or, he might browse Microsoft’s notoriously useless help feature. Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Computer Literacy Help Desk, hidden demand, MSNBC, software support